HEY MAMAS: don’t give up on your creative gifts.

Many years ago, I was a newlywed fresh to the handmade scene. To be specific, it was over seven years ago that I had discovered Etsy.com, and I was obsessed with the idea that women my age knew how to run a successful handmade business while working from an inspiring studio space. Aka: home :)

The day I discovered Etsy, something ignited within me, and suddenly I wanted to something similar for myself. I wanted the assumed easiness of owning my own business. I wanted to have a creative life, to live a creative life, and so I set some big, detailed goals and jumped in without a single glance backward. A local library in Detroit became my best friend, offering so many free resources, which I paired with YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and my blog :)

Seven years ago, I had very little additional responsibilities. Our families lived close by, we didn’t have our beloved Bauer dog, and we were years away from getting pregnant with our firstborn. I had “all the time in the world”. I had so much confidence to try all of my new, creative ideas. I felt inspired by everything — things I saw and felt and smelled and dreamed about.

After a couple of years, after many sewing and blogging techniques were learned, after many products sewn, after many dollars saved as an “emergency fund”, I quit my trusty day job to focus solely on my handmade business, Gussy Sews. There’s so much good I remember about that time in my life, but feeling absolutely fearless takes the lead.

Being a fearless, creative woman is a really powerful feeling, one I wish I could keep in a bottle as a little refresher, whenever my reserve runs low :)

There are a few conversations I remember from that time in my life, and the time that has passed hasn’t clouded or muddled or smeared any of them. Not a single bit.

Looking back at that time in my life, I remember having conversations about “how easy I had it as a handmade shop owner” since I was not yet a mama (unlike them).

There is nothing, nothing, NOTHING I would change about where we are in life right now — but, my goodness, my daily schedule is certainly different when I compare then to now. For one, I’m often amazed, definitely embarrassed at times, over how self-conscious I’ve gotten about myself and my creativity since 2013. For some reason, the stakes seem higher now that I’m a mama? I can’t totally put my finger on it.

As a personal choice, with each baby I’ve birthed I’ve slowed down the amount of “outside” work I do. I’m not going to get into the details of that decision right now as that isn’t the purpose of this post, but rather this:

I am coming to you as a friend, a creative sister, a mama who’s walking the same crazy as you are, and I UNDERSTAND YOUR SELF-CONSCIOUS MUCK.

I understand the true fatigue that washes over you as soon as your babies are tucked into bed at night. The creative projects you’ve been daydreaming about are now transferred to tomorrow’s daydream list (again). The energy you thought you had stored up for the evening, well, it’s all but a vapor.

I understand how frustrating it is to finally have a creative thought, and not just a thought, but an action plan of how to bring it from dream to reality, but a single sheet of paper isn’t to be found — not even a piece of junk mail — so just as quickly as your creative thought arrived, it is now poof! lost.

I understand the difficulty of wanting to create, to hold your tools for hours and hours, but you know you need to be holding other tools instead. It may feel like you’re hanging on by a thread, since it’s been so long since you’ve picked them up, but don’t give up hope. Don’t forget working in 20-minute increments can reap rewards, too. Don’t forget that creating can still happen, it just happens in different ways.

I understand the overwhelming flood of, Am I making the right choice over how I spend my time?, when you know full well that you are. I understand this time at home feels unending. Yet, when you think back to how much your firstborn has grown since birth, you suddenly feel an overwhelming flood of, gratefulness that you have watched him grow.

I understand you, my friend.

I understand because I am right there with you. I am thick in the mess of motherhood, right alongside you. I am thick in the mess of knowing I have gifts and talents and offerings to share, yet I know they can’t all be done with the same quickness as before. Regardless of what “it” is, it can’t all be done at the same time. Our days are limited to 24 hours. Our bodies require rest. Our marriage demands our attention. Visiting with our girl friends is important. The list goes on.

Yet, as mamas, we must find time to create. As hard as it is, despite the limited time we now have to create, as fleeting as those moments may be, we must be creating. We must pull ourselves out of our self-conscious muck, and we must keep fighting to pursue our creative gifts.

Contrary to how it feels, nothing about us is lost when we become a mother, but rather, this: we shift into a new creative role.

Because if we can keep fighting to pursue our creative gifts then our village of little loves, the children we are raising, will grow up and remember their mama finding time to create (despite the fight she fought to get there). And their memory of us continuing to create as young mamas will encourage them to keep creating themselves once they become mamas.

So for the future encouragement of your children and their creative gifts: don’t give up.

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Comments

Yes! Yes! Yes! Thank you for this! I daydream all day long about things I want to write, create, design, etc., and I thinking longingly about that time I have right after their are in bed…and SAME THING–when it actually comes, I just want to relax & enjoy time with my husband :-) Just made (another) goal of being more intentional with my mornings in order to have more time to create.

Have you read Jessica Turner’s book The Fringe Hours? I highly recommend it for finding ways to organize your schedule (and what to say “no” to) so you can do all that you want to throughout the week. It’s not a book about doing more, it’s about learning what your priorities are and how to protect/pursue them :)

Oh my gosh, thank you so much for this. I’ve been struggling, STRUGGLING with these very thoughts lately. Thanks for writing this, it’s encouraging to me to know that I’m not the only one. =) I just keep telling myself that this is a season, and I will be thankful for any small effort I put into maintaining my own creativity when there is finally time to really invest in it again.

YES! :) I’m glad we’re not alone in this :) and I want to encourage you to spend a little time on your creative projects, even if it’s just 20 minutes — you’ll feel so much better and it’ll help clear your mind!!! xx

Like I wrote in my other comment, I’m expecting my first baby in March. I’ve been a work-from-home photographer and blogger for 5+ years. The first few years of my business, I had no one to answer to but myself and then we added a cute dog 2 years ago. That was even an adjustment going from taking care of just myself to training a pup during the day.

Now, as I anticipate the arrival of our first baby, I am well aware that my day-to-day routine, available work hours, and really life in general are about to be shifted in ways I can’t fathom. As someone who adjusts to change slowly, I feel some apprehension about those coming changes. But at the same time, I think my awareness of the changes that are coming, even if I don’t know how they will look exactly, and willingness to release some of the control I’ve had over my schedule in the past, and learn a new normal will make things ok.

Posts like this fill me with hope and encouragement. I know this upcoming season will look very different than what I’m used to. But I’m also excited and ready for it. I’m ready for a shift in my priorities and I’m ready to pour my efforts into raising our village. All while still finding time for myself in the process.

Thank you for sharing your heart, Maggie. I find it refreshing and inspiring to read your reflections and to know that I can find kindred souls in entrepreneur-mamas like you.

Oh friend, it is so hard transitioning into mamahood, no matter how much I prepare (or don’t) — even as we anticipate our third baby, it’s still so different from our first. BUT. It is so rewarding. I think when we can fully believe we’re in this for a reason, that is when the beauty is revealed. I’m super excited for you and your family :) March is a great month to be born!!! I love your comments. Thank you for taking the time to type your heart. xx

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ABOUT MAGGIE WHITLEY DESIGNS:
Since 2008, I've been writing to inspire myself
(and others) to keep chasing the adventure of life. Whether that be through my faith in God, simple living, motherhood, handmade business, or friendship, there is much joy to be found!
My husband and I live in the Detroit area with
our THREE young children. We are adventure seekers, passion chasers, and believe inspiration is all around you.
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